The invention relates generally to a device for connecting a system element, such as a foot of an aircraft seat, and a perforated rail having a C-shaped cross-section.
In a known device of the aforementioned type, as in many other corresponding devices, the anchor fitting functions to secure the connecting device against shifting in the longitudinal direction of the perforated rail arranged between the two feet of the base unit. The connecting device is prevented from lifting away from the perforated rail by the two feet which engage respective tongues that are present between successive holes formed by the end portions of the perforated rail cross-sections that confront each other. With the aid of screws and a bridge supported on the rail, the feet can be tightened against the underside of the tongues, thus attaining a tight connection between the device and the perforated rails. If a tensile force is applied to this known device in both the longitudinal direction of the perforated rails and also in a direction which acts to lift the base unit from the perforated rails, then the device is loaded in the sense of a tipping about a lateral axis lying between the two feet, which results in the force component acting in the sense of a lifting away from the perforated rails which must be assumed only by one of the two feet and the two tongues of the perforated rail beneath which it engages.
An additional disadvantage of the known device is that the two legs of the bridge, to which the respective halves of the anchor fitting are matched, must engage in respective recesses of the base unit. This results in a portion of the force acting on the anchor fitting tending to cause the screws to bend, which is undesirable, because these screws must be easily accessible in order to make the connection of the device with the perforated rail and, also release it, as quickly as possible.